Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 72 / Monday, April 15, 2013 / Notices 22363 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information, including a list of 

the exhibit objects, contact Julie 

Simpson, Attorney-Adviser, Office of 

the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of 

State (telephone: 202–632–6467). The 

mailing address is U.S. Department of 

State, SA–5, L/PD, Fifth Floor (Suite 

5H03), Washington, DC 20522–0505. 

Dated: April 9, 2013. 

Ann Stock, 

Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational 

and Cultural Affairs, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2013–08789 Filed 4–12–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the All Aboard Florida Miami—Orlando 

Passenger Rail Project 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to 

advise the public that FRA will prepare 

an Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) to evaluate the potential 

environmental and related impacts of 

constructing and operating an intercity 

passenger rail service proposed by the 

private company, All Aboard Florida— 

Operations LLC (AAF), between Miami 

and Orlando, Florida, with intermediate 

stops in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm 

Beach, Florida (Proposed Action). FRA 

will evaluate alternatives for 

construction and operation of the 

Proposed Action, which would include 

infrastructure improvements to existing 

rail corridor right-of-way between 

Miami and Cocoa, and the development 

of a new rail corridor between Cocoa 

and Orlando. FRA will also evaluate a 

No Action (No Build) Alternative. FRA 

is issuing this notice to solicit public 

and agency input into the development 

of the scope of the EIS and to advise the 

public that outreach activities 

conducted by FRA, AAF and its 

representatives will be considered in the 

preparation of the EIS. To ensure all 

significant issues are identified and 

considered, the public is invited to 

comment on the scope of the EIS, 

including the purpose and need, 

alternatives to be considered, impacts to 

be evaluated, and methodologies to be 

used in the evaluation. 

DATES: FRA invites the public, 

governmental agencies, and all other 

interested parties to comment on the 

scope of the EIS. All such comments 

should be provided to FRA, in writing, 

within thirty (30) days of the 

publication of this notice, at the address 

listed below. Comments may also be 

provided orally or in writing at the 

scoping meetings for the Project. 

Scoping meeting dates, times and 

locations, in addition to related Project 

information can be found online at 

www.allaboardflorida.com or 

www.fra.dot.gov. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

scope of the EIS may be mailed or 

emailed within thirty (30) days of the 

publication of this notice to Catherine 

Dobbs, Transportation Industry Analyst, 

Office of Railroad Policy and 

Development, Federal Railroad 

Administration, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, or 

catherine.dobbs@dot.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ali 

Soule, Public Affairs Manager, All 

Aboard Florida—Operations LLC, 2855 

LeJeune Road, 4th Floor, Coral Gables, 

FL 33134, eis@allaboardflorida.com, or 

Catherine Dobbs, Transportation 

Industry Analyst, Office of Railroad 

Policy and Development, Federal 

Railroad Administration, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 

20590, catherine.dobbs@dot.gov. 

Information and documents regarding 

the EIS process will also be made 

available through the FRA Web site at 

www.fra.dot.gov and the AAF Web site 

at www.allaboardflorida.com. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA is 

preparing an EIS for a 235-mile intercity 

passenger railroad system proposed by 

AAF that will connect Orlando and 

Miami, Florida, with intermediate stops 

in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm 

Beach, Florida (Project). The proposed 

Project is composed of two connected 

corridors: (1) A north-south corridor of 

approximately 195 miles from Miami to 

Cocoa within an existing rail right-ofway, and (2) an east-west corridor of 

approximately 40 miles from Cocoa to 

the Orlando International Airport 

(MCO). The EIS will evaluate the 

potential environmental and related 

impacts of constructing and operating 

the Project within these corridors in 

Florida. 

Environmental Review Process 

The EIS will be developed in 

accordance with the Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations (40 CFR part 1500 et. seq.) 

implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA) and FRA’s 

Procedures for Considering 

Environmental Impacts (64 FR 28545, 

May 26, 1999). In addition to NEPA, the 

EIS will address other applicable 

statutes, regulations and executive 

orders, including the 1980 Clean Air Act 

Amendments, Section 404 of the Clean 

Water Act, the National Historic 

Preservation Act, Section 4(f) of the 

Department of Transportation Act, the 

Endangered Species Act and Executive 

Order 12898 on Environmental Justice. 

The EIS will consider alternatives that 

could include the use of, or access over, 

an interstate right-of-way and thus may 

involve the Federal Highway 

Administration. The Project’s new 

corridor from Cocoa to MCO may 

involve alteration and fill of waters of 

the United States and thus the EIS 

process will involve the US Army Corps 

of Engineers, which is expected to serve 

as a cooperating agency. The Project is 

proposed to terminate at MCO, the 

Orlando International Airport, and thus 

may require review pursuant to the 

applicable requirements of the Federal 

Aviation Administration. The purpose 

of the EIS will be to provide the FRA, 

reviewing and cooperating agencies, and 

the public with information to assess 

alternatives that will meet the Project’s 

purpose and need; to evaluate the 

potential environmental impacts; and to 

identify potential avoidance/mitigation 

measures, associated with the proposed 

Project alternatives. 

Project Background 

Florida has historically experienced 

major population, employment, and 

tourism growth, which is expected to 

continue in the coming decades. 

Florida’s travelers are subject to chronic 

congestion and delays due to inadequate 

roadway capacity. The limited capacity 

results in higher road maintenance 

costs, increased fuel consumption, 

greater emissions and increased traffic 

incidents stemming from the high traffic 

volume. Significant roadway expansion 

along the I–95 corridor would be 

expected to cause a large number of 

displacements and other substantial 

environmental impacts while failing to 

provide an alternative to automobile 

travel. 

As an alternative to additional 

highway development, this Project 

would help meet the existing need and 

demand for safe, convenient, and 

reliable transportation through the 

development of a privately-owned, 

operated and maintained intercity 

passenger rail service between four 

stations in Orlando, West Palm Beach, 

Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. 

Development of passenger rail will also 

support economic development by 

generating new revenue and creating 


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22364 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 72 / Monday, April 15, 2013 / Notices 

jobs and fulfill several public policy 

objectives concerning the environment. 

AAF is a subsidiary of Florida East 

Coast Industries, Inc. (FECI), which is a 

transportation, infrastructure and 

commercial real estate company based 

in Coral Gables, Florida. Florida East 

Coast Railway, L.L.C. (FECR), an 

affiliate of FECI, owns the right-of-way 

and existing railroad infrastructure 

within the corridor between Miami and 

Jacksonville, over which FECR operates 

a freight rail service (FEC Corridor). 

AAF has an exclusive, perpetual 

easement granted by FECR whereby 

AAF may develop and operate the 

proposed passenger service within the 

FEC Corridor. AAF will operate the 

proposed passenger rail service within 

the FEC Corridor in coordination with 

FECR’s continued freight service. AAF 

is working to secure access to use the 

right-of-way of State Road 528 between 

Cocoa and MCO through a combination 

of passenger rail leases and easements. 

FRA issued a finding of no significant 

impact on January 31, 2013 for 

passenger rail service and rail and 

station improvements proposed by AAF 

between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and 

West Palm Beach. These improvements 

would return this 66 mile portion of the 

FEC Corridor to its historic dual-track 

system, providing fast, dependable and 

efficient passenger rail service between 

West Palm Beach and Miami. The 

proposed Miami to Orlando passenger 

rail project would expand this initial 

service to MCO. 

The proposed Project would use 

stations developed for the Miami to 

West Palm Beach project that will be 

located in the central business districts 

of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West 

Palm Beach, supporting development in 

these urban centers. The proposed 

station at MCO is expected to be 

developed by the Greater Orlando 

Airport Authority as part of a $1 billion 

South Terminal Expansion that will 

include a 3,500-space parking garage 

and the development of a multi-modal 

depot. 

As proposed, 195 miles of the Project 

would operate within an active freight 

rail corridor that has existed for more 

than 100 years. Proposed alternatives for 

the remaining 40 miles connecting 

Cocoa and Orlando generally parallel 

the existing State Road 528 right-of-way. 

Scoping and Public Involvement 

FRA encourages broad participation 

in the EIS process during scoping and 

review of the resulting environmental 

documents. Comments are invited from 

all interested agencies and the public to 

ensure the full range of issues related to 

the Proposed Action are addressed, 

reasonable alternatives are considered, 

and significant issues are identified. In 

particular, FRA is interested in 

identifying areas of environmental 

concern where there might be a 

potential for significant impacts. Public 

agencies with jurisdiction are requested 

to advise FRA and AAF of the 

applicable permit and environmental 

review requirements of each agency, 

and the scope and content of the 

environmental information that is 

germane to the agency’s statutory 

responsibilities in connection with the 

proposed Project. Public agencies are 

requested to advise FRA if they 

anticipate taking a major action in 

connection with the proposed Project 

and if they wish to cooperate in the 

preparation of the EIS. 

Public scoping opportunities and 

meetings will be scheduled as described 

above and are an important component 

of the scoping process for Federal 

environmental review. FRA is seeking 

participation and input of interested 

Federal, State, and local agencies, 

Native American groups, and other 

concerned private organizations and 

individuals on the scope of the EIS. The 

Project may affect historic properties 

and may be subject to the requirements 

of Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) (16 

U.S.C. 470(f)). In accordance with 

regulations issued by the Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation (36 

CFR part 800), FRA intends to 

coordinate compliance with Section 106 

of the NHPA with the preparation of the 

EIS, beginning with the identification of 

consulting parties through the scoping 

process, in a manner consistent with the 

standards set out in 36 CFR 800.8. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on April 5, 

2013. 

Corey Hill, 

Director, Passenger and Freight Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2013–08745 Filed 4–12–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–06–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Docket Number FRA–2011–0069] 

Petition for Waiver of Compliance 

In accordance with Part 211 of Title 

49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 

this document provides the public 

notice that by a document dated January 

24, 2013, Steam Into History, Inc. 

(Steam) has petitioned the Federal 

Railroad Administration (FRA) for a 

waiver of compliance from certain 

provisions of the Federal railroad safety 

regulations contained at 49 CFR part 

223, Safety Glazing Standards— 

Locomotives, Passenger Cars and 

Cabooses. FRA assigned the petition 

Docket Number FRA–2011–0069. 

Kloke Locomotive Works is 

constructing for Steam a newly built 

(2013) replica of a steam locomotive that 

was originally built in the 1800s. York 

#17, the locomotive that is the subject 

of Steam’s waiver petition, is a replica 

of Union Pacific #119, which was 

constructed in 1979 from the same 

blueprints and tooling that is being used 

for the construction of York #17. Union 

Pacific #119 is owned and operated by 

the U.S. National Park Service at the 

Golden Spike National Historic Site in 

Promontory Summit, UT. Steam intends 

to operate York #17 with its replica 

Civil War-era train on the former 

Northern Central Railway in York 

County, PA. 

Steam asks that FRA determine that 

49 CFR part 223 not apply to York #17 

because of the language in 49 CFR 

223.3, Application, which provides an 

exemption for ‘‘locomotives * * * that 

are historical or antiquated equipment 

and are used only for excursion, 

educational, recreational purposes or 

private transportation purposes.’’ Steam 

states that York #17 is an accurate, 

historical design locomotive and will be 

used primarily for educational 

purposes. It will also be used for 

excursions, primarily in an historical, 

educational context. Steam submits that, 

because of the historic nature and 

primarily educational mission of York 

#17, 49 CFR part 223 should not apply 

to it. 

In the event that FRA determines that 

York #17 does not qualify for an 

exemption pursuant to 49 CFR 223.3, 

Steam requests relief from 49 CFR 223.9, 

Requirements for new or rebuilt 

equipment, due to its mitigating use of 

tempered automotive safety-type glazing 

in the locomotive cab and the open 

nature of the wooden cab on the 

locomotive. Additionally, Steam asserts 

that the historical appearance of York 

#17 would be unrecognizable with the 

installation of 49 CFR part 223 glazing. 

Steam submitted a similar waiver 

petition to FRA on July 28, 2011, but 

FRA dismissed the petition without 

prejudice on February 3, 2012, because 

the design of York #17 was not finalized 

and a sample car (locomotive) 

inspection could not be performed. 

A copy of the petition, as well as any 

written communications concerning the 

petition, is available for review online at 

www.regulations.gov and in person at 

the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 

(DOT) Docket Operations Facility, 1200 

New Jersey Avenue SE., W12–140, 


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